President Muhammadu Buhari, on Monday in Abuja, revealed that those who were in government illegally lifted crude oil up to July 3rd, this year, adding that his government was already getting documents on these shady deals.
The president, responding to questions on ‘Good Morning Nigeria,’ a television programme, said that the Federal Government was working assiduously to expose the persons behind the illegal activity.
He promised that his administration would continue to update members of the public on government’s investigation into the matter.
He said that government’s aim was to identify and prosecute all those found culpable.
According to him, the relevant shipping documents are being compiled for onward submission to countries of destination of stolen Nigerian crude oil.
“The search continues; up to the third of this month, our crude was still being illegally lifted by people who were in government. We are trying to get these documents. We are getting the cooperation of the international community.
“We are going to make sure that those who perpetrated this theft against Nigeria are faced with facts very soon and are taken to our courts. We’ve got the cooperation of some of the countries of the destinations of our crude (oil) and we are discussing with them.
“We have to maintain high confidentiality so that we don’t risk some of the loyal Nigerians that are helping us to trace the destinations of this stolen crude and then the accounts into which the monies are being paid instead of the Federal Government account.”
Buhari said that his administration was still studying recommendations on how the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should be reorganized.
He described his recent trip to the United States as very successful, as he was able to extract the commitment of the US government to assist and support Nigeria toward tackling the economic and security challenges it was facing.
He said that the United States and other European countries had also pledged to assist Nigeria by putting in place necessary security mechanism in the Gulf of Guinea to help check the theft of the country’s crude oil.
